P.C. Popp published the cadastral plans and registers of 1 733 municipalities as part of the Atlas of Belgium. This unique publication is a gold mine for historical geography, industrial archaeology, social history, local history, toponymy and other areas of research. To date, historians and scientists have still not sufficiently exploited the cadastre because of the complexity and scale of the archive. The POPPKAD project was created to open up the cadastre for scientific research. As part of this project, the data on the plans and registers of a number of representative municipalities were fully digitised and linked to Geographic Information Systems. The localities were selected based on their location, size and socio-economic profile.

During the 19th century, Brussels was by far the most important demographic, economic and administrative center of the country. The city experienced a strong population growth after Belgian independence and around 1865 it had a population of 158 000 inhabitants and 16 000 houses. Up until the 1860s, this growth mainly occurred within the administrative boundaries of the city. In this period, the Brussels pentagon (the old town) was a magnet for rich and poor people who, attracted by the prosperity and employment opportunities, found accommodation in a relatively small area.

POPPKAD was funded by the Hercules Foundation and Ghent University.